Changes

I write this from a hotel room (on the road—work).

Let’s all take a moment to bask in the beauty that is a baby monitor–free room and room service. Even if I have to get up before 5:00 a.m. tomorrow. And the couple in the room next to me is arguing.

Right. This post. Stay on topic, Ashley.

Change, then. Nobody likes change. It’s so true, it’s a cliché. And while wars rage and atrocities occur across the globe, our little Hofmann drama is minor, minor, minor.

But for us, it’s big, because it involves the daily routine in a major way, and more importantly, it involves our two bright, beautiful, loved-more-than-anything daughters.

You know that daycare we love so much? That has taken such loving, nurturing care of our girls for more than 4.5 years? Since Charlotte was 11 weeks old? This week, we gave notice that we are withdrawing them.

  

Why the change, you ask? Why leave the school you love so much?

Well, mainly the distance. With us living in The Sticks and the daycare being all the way in Obscenely Affluent City, the girls are subjected to long car rides. Which means lots of whining at the end of the day, when kiddos are tired and hungry. Forty minutes of Lorelei on top of the Frozen soundtrack would drive anyone mad.

When we carpool, we all arrive home at the same (late) time. Nobody is there ahead of time, prepping the kids’ dinner—or anything else. So EVERYONE arrives home at once, cranky. With a thousand things to bring in. Hungry kids to feed. And it’s around this time that Chris decides to check the mail and check on his garden while impatient, hungry kids (we’re working on the patience thing) try negotiate out of washing their hands (Charlotte) and scream (Lorelei) to EAT! While I prep their dinner.

It’s. So. Stressful.

We hardly are able to eat together as a family, which we really want to do. Chris and I simply can’t prep a dinner for four and get them bathed and to bed in the tiny allotment of time our schedule gives us. Also, with me telecommuting a couple days a week, and Chris traveling now and then, there are times I am making that awful round trip JUST FOR KID PICK UP OR DROP OFF. Which is nuts.

Finally? Well, the tuition at the new school is sooooo much lower. Not to appear uber shallow, but I got a Bassetts Furniture catalog in the mail the other day, and for the first time in forever, I allowed myself to ponder getting furniture for the so-called “formal” living room that doesn’t come from Target. Anyhoo, the tuition played a role.

Folks in our neighborhood have only good things to say about the new school, and I love the idea of Charlotte and Lorelei making LOCAL friends. I feel terrible about taking Charlotte away from her friends, and Lorelei is finally adapting to her new class (2 year olds), and of course we’re going to rip her away and have her readapt. Ugh.

Charlotte does not yet know about the new school. We’ll tell her after the two of us return from a trip to South Dakota we’re doing next week. (Charlotte is my travel buddy.) That child is a worrier, and I don’t want her fretting for a full month.

The girls’ last day is October 10. I have plans for the final days and Charlotte’s transition. It will be exciting but terrifying—for everyone.

Ultimately, though, Chris and I simply decided that changing schools to someplace more local would address a lot of the stressors we’ve been facing on a daily basis. It doesn’t mean I don’t get choked up every time I pull into their school parking lot, but I do deeply believe that we’ve made the best decision for our family.